Political opinion: 'Reform Way' has been a year of chaos, contradictions and broken promises in Nottinghamshire

Twelve months into their administration, residents are entitled to ask, what exactly does ‘the Reform way’ mean?

We were told Reform would stop boats, cut waste, challenge bureaucracy and govern with ‘common sense’.

The problem is, running a county council is not the same as posting slogans online or delivering crowd-pleasing soundbites.

Reform promised lower council tax bills, or to at least freeze them, but instead increased it by 3.99 per cent.

They spoke about DOGE-style efficiency teams rooting out unnecessary spending to uncover huge savings.

Yet, since taking office, those much-hyped DOGE teams have quietly disappeared.

Before the election, every difficult financial decision was treated as establishment failure.

In administration, Reform quickly discovered the realities of local authority finance, yet continue pretending they are somehow fundamentally different.

Reform said they would restore financial discipline but then borrowed another £15m.

The issue is not the borrowing – it’s the sheer hypocrisy of attacking it and then doing it in office.

Nothing, however, has come to symbolise Reform’s priorities more than the infamous £75,000 union flags.

The reason this issue cut through so strongly is because ordinary people instinctively recognised misplaced priorities when they saw them.

That money could have repaired around 1,000 potholes.

Even national media outlets highlighted the absurdity of the decision.

Adult social care tells a similar story.

Conservatives froze fees back in 2017 – Reform has increased them by £1.5m, the first increase in nearly a decade.

Once again, the issue is not whether difficult choices ever need to be made but that Reform claiming they would govern differently, only to raise charges and taxes once elected.

Perhaps most concerning has been Reform’s attitude towards scrutiny and accountability.

They attempted to ban the press from council meetings – an extraordinary move for a party that frequently lectures others about transparency and free speech.

Only after a legal challenge and significant criticism were journalists allowed back in.

That episode revealed something deeper about Reform’s governing instincts – they appear far more comfortable demanding accountability from others than accepting it themselves.

Strong administrations welcome scrutiny, weak administrations try to reduce it – ‘the Reform way’.

And then there is perhaps the most revealing promise of all.

During the election campaign, Reform repeatedly invoked national immigration issues and promised voters they would ‘stop the boats’ if elected locally.

It was a slogan designed to tap into public frustration and generate headlines.

But county councils have absolutely no powers over border control, asylum policy, immigration enforcement, or channel crossings.

Reform knew that perfectly well, yet still used national grievances in a local election campaign because it was politically useful.

That says a great deal about the kind of politics Reform practices – politics built on slogans and outrage rather than what local government can actually achieve and Nottinghamshire residents are beginning to see through it.

‘The Reform way’ was supposed to represent competence, honesty, and change.

Instead, it has increasingly become shorthand for gimmicks, slogans and broken promises.

There is no magical ‘Reform way’ of governing.

There is only the reality where budgets must balance, services must function, roads must be repaired and leaders must be accountable for the promises they make.